Mozart and da Ponte’s Nouveau Régime:Finding Equality Through Love in The Marriage of Figaro

Mozart and da Ponte’s musical adaptation of Beaumarchais’ play The Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro is one of the greatest achievements in western opera theatre. The unparalleled success of the opera on opening night resulted in so many encores of individual numbers that Emperor Joseph II of Austria drafted a new law limiting the number of encores at future performances. Throughout the opera’s 230 year life critics, scholars, artists and composers have lauded the perfection of score and libretto including Johannes Brahms who said: ”In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven.” Along with universal praise, there are some voices who suggest Mozart and da Ponte’s choice to depoliticize and soften the plot of the original play by cutting out some of Figaro’s most incendiary speechs against nobility were made only to ensure the opera would pass the sensors of Emperor Joseph II and thereby weakened the power of the play’s original radical message that forecast the budding French revolutionary movement’s call for a “Nouveau Régime” to replace the “Ancien Régime”. After preparing this performance of The Marriage of Figaro for you here in Israel, I have come to realize that the opera is in fact even more radical and powerful than the original Beaumarchais play because Mozart and da Ponte do not simply suggest a world where one class replaces another class in the ruling hierarchy, but that people of different classes and in an even more radical move for the 18th century, the female characters of the opera work together to bring forgiveness, love, and understanding to the male characters of the opera to create a true “Nouveau Régime” of freedom, equality, fraternity and sorority. In the Act IV Finale of The Marriage of Figaro, the countess and the count have the following exchange followed by the entire community of characters in the opera:

ALLAh! Tutti contenti saremo così.Ah! All of us will be happy in this way.

In the Beaumarchais play, this moment is thrown away as a quick comedic apology to sew up the end. Mozart, however, expands this section allowing time to literally stop with fermatas and also by providing one of the most of the beautiful melodic and dramatic moments of the opera. All of the male characters begin this opera competing against each other focused on their possessions, their honor, and their revenge. The women work together ultimately in friendship and teach the men to love each other again and as in the end of the Act IV Finale, to forgive one another, love each other’s difference, so finally the community “will be happy in this way.” In celebration of Mozart’s revolutionary idea of a true “Nouveau Régime” of equality, we explored how the characters in the opera begin trapped in their masculine or feminine worlds in terms of behavior and even shapes, and colors and how those worlds finally merge at the end as integrated equals. We also included a new character who embodies the allegory of Reason. Reason moves through the story inspiring the minds of the characters to come together to achieve a state of harmony. This state of harmony achieved at the end of the opera is forecast by Susanna and the Countess’s famous duet “Canzonetta sull’aria”. The duet is a turning point in the opera as they begin working together to heal the divide between the men and women. By the end of the duet, Mozart blends their voices together so the two ladies of different classes become one integrated voice. In the movie The Shawshank Redemption Morgan Freeman’s character Red describes the affect hearing this duet suddenly piped in over the prison loud speaker has on unifying the inmates:

“I have no idea what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it ... ,and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.”

It is in the spirit of this spirit of equality and freedom that we perform Mozart and da Ponte’s revolutionary masterpiece for you today.

"...this was by far the most enjoyable and thought-provoking Don Giovanni New York has heard in many a year: Cahill's concept proved multi-layered and insightful, and McAdams’ work with the orchestra was seamless and disciplined...the energetic cast was quite accomplished—the kind of performers one might have encountered at the late lamented New York City Opera..." - OPERA NEWS

"this non-traditional presentation did not take anything away from Mozart's tragicomic masterpiece but rather added something new that led to a more visceral understanding of librettist Lorenzo da Ponte's message.

The production was designed and directed by Edwin Cahill with a sure hand. The arc of the story moved along swiftly and all the encrusted clichés and tropes were swept away. The inherent tragedy was made even more poignant by the framing device which was set up during Mozart's portentous overture." - Voce di Meche

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

“Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.”

- The character Frank Underwood from House of Cards

The period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Europe was dominated by the Counter-Reformation when the Catholic church aimed to spread the faith by not only reforming the structure and teachings of the church, but also by attempting to suppress heresy. The Holy Office of the Roman Inquisition was created to eliminate heretics. In Spain the Inquisition had been historically vigorous, but at this time its actions found new stimulation. Therefore, a baby born to Jewish parents in Madrid on March 29, 1579 and named Gabriel Téllez would find life to be challenging if not impossible. The young Gabriel Téllez decided to protect his family by converting to Catholicism. He adopted the name of the local bishop, as was the custom, and was ordained as a priest who became known as Tirso de Molina. De Molina went on to write over three hundred plays, including the first published version of the Don Juan story called The Trickster of Seville or the Stone Guest. Many of his plays were closely reflective of contemporary society and were denounced for corrupting public morals.

One hundred and seventy years later on March 10, 1749, Emanuele Conegliano was born in the Republic of Venice to a family living in a Jewish ghetto in the town of Ceneda. Like Tirso de Molina, Emanuele Conegliano converted to Catholicism and adopted the name of the local bishop Lorenzo da Ponte. Da Ponte was eventually ordained as a priest despite his contention that it was a contradiction of his true calling and character. He later claimed that becoming a priest was the only embarrassing moment of his life. Da Ponte grew up at the climax of the Age of Enlightenment when the dominant philosophy centered on liberty, tolerance, and as with previous Counter-Reformation thinkers, ending the abuses of the church. Da Ponte’s early poetry published from an Accademia challenged the ruling class and the laws governing the state and church. The work was denounced by Inquisitor Padre Giuseppe Frassen, and eventually da Ponte was banished from Venice for his licentious behavior.

The historical parallels of de Molina and da Ponte’s lives served as the inspiration for this production of DON GIOVANNI. De Molina’s Don Juan violates the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 12:1 “Memoria Dei” or “Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth”. When Don Juan is repeatedly asked to repent he replies “Plenty of time for that!” and continues his sinful ways. Don Juan understands the Catholic doctrine that forgiveness through the Church can redeem his soul, so de Molina’s protagonist paradoxically works the system—he can dedicate his youth to sin as long as he plans to repent in the future. Da Ponte and Mozart’s Don Giovanni violates “Memoria Dei” in the same way, and although he possesses great charisma and rhetorical skills, he has little connection to the content of his words like many political or church leaders. We are therefore exploring the theme of corruption of power with Don Giovanni as a leader of the Catholic church. I chose the Orensanz Center as it is one of the oldest former temples in New York built in 1849 to resemble the gothic architecture of the Cologne Cathedral.

Another theme from da Ponte and Mozart's opera is that of punishment. Galatians 6:7 says "as a man soweth, so shall he reap." Don Giovanni violates the law of hospitality, and his end befits his crime. Our production begins with the ghost of Tirso de Molina calling the ghosts of the opera's characters to order from a state of purgatory where they have been replaying the essence of their individual sins.

Whether you are discovering DON GIOVANNI for the first time or seeing it for the thousand and third time, I hope you will find the lessons in this masterpiece remain as poignant today as they did in Mozart and da Ponte's time, and that heeding their message could pave the way for a brighter future.

"Great comedy, great songs...a very enchanting production...this whole production was more impressive than the [2002] Broadway revival...wonderful!” - NBC morning news TMJ4 RyanJReviews.com

"With stunning sets, masterful orchestration and impeccable performances, Skylight Music Theatre’s production of Into the Woods is a delight....The performers shine under Edwin Cahill’s direction. "- shepherdexpress.com

"The Skylight delivers first rate Sondheim...director Edwin Cahill helps his cast deftly knit all this together with light-hearted wit and lots of musical pop....Other than the two glorious ballads, “The Witch’s Lament” (touchingly sung by Susan Spencer) and “No One Is Alone,” there’s a comic, light touch to the song styles, which works perfectly for the cast and the intimate Cabot Theatre space. It’s good to have Sondheim back again on a major Milwaukee stage, and very good to hear him in such good hands." - Milwaukee Magazine

"Skylight hits all the magical notes with Sondheim's "Into the Woods"...It takes a lot - a lot - to get a theater audience to sit for almost three hours and then rise to their feet as one when time is up to shower accolades on the people who have captured their imaginations for so long. But give those three hours to Stephen Sondheim, a wickedly beautiful cast, spectacular costumes by Shima Orans and joyful and passionate direction by Edwin Cahill, and it's as if you've only been seated for a moment or two. That's the feeling at "Into the Woods," the Sondheim musical that opened at the Skylight Music Theatre Friday night." - onmilwaukee.com

"The renowned musical makes theatergoers' wishes come true in the Cabot Theatre when Skylight Music Theatre locally sources a marvelous cast that will make hearts melt under award-winning Edwin Cahill's direction." - Broadway World

"One of the few out-of-town transplants is director Edwin Cahill, from New York City, and the work he’s done here makes him a worthy addition to the Wisconsinites." - Wisconsin Gazette

DIRECTOR'S NOTES“Careful the things you say, children will listen.” - Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods

According to Albert Einstein, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” I believe it follows: if you want your children to be the most intelligent of all, bring them to a performance of Into the Woods. In this musical masterpiece by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, all the most famous fairy-tale characters collide in a singular story that holds the same power to educate and inspire as does an entire volume of the Brothers Grimm. And while Einstein may have referred to children specifically, it is no secret that beneath the layers of adult haberdashery and serious professional preoccupations, we all remain children at heart. We are all driven by simple needs or wishes like those that comprise the foundation of every fairy-tale.

As most well known fairy tales take place nearby or inside forests, the ‘woods’ are not only the literal setting for our story but also the age-old symbol for darkness (the biggest forest in Germany is still called ‘Schwartz’ or ‘black’), the unknown, and of course the human unconscious. Within these uncharted ‘woods’ the characters of our story must overcome enormous obstacles in order to survive and see their wishes granted. The existence of the ‘woods’ motif in fairy tales throughout the world and even in epic poems such as Dante’s Divine Comedy and in plays like Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the main ways Carl Jung establishes his theory of the collective unconscious, which explains how part of our unconscious mind has been passed down from our ancestors and is shared by all mankind. It is there, every night in those uncharted ‘woods’ of our unconscious, that each one of us confronts our personal psychological obstacles in dreams and nightmares in order to emerge stronger, wiser, and ready to confront the future the following morning.

Jung’s theory inspired Lapine and Sondheim to combine the plots and characters of numerous fairy tales to expose their common themes and explore the powers and dangers of the ‘collective unconscious’ lurking in these tales. James Lapine also invented a new set of American fairy tale characters who live in these medieval woods but represent a modern, urban, New York couple: the baker and the baker’s wife. In another structural twist, the traditional ‘happily ever after’ fairy tale resolution is broken into two parts between Act I and Act II. The first act tells the traditional stories to the point of ‘happily’ where the original wishes are granted while the second act explores the not so happily ‘ever after’ that results when characters employ any and all methods necessary, including dishonest ones, to see that a wish is granted. (On a side note, one of the main reasons I believe the recent feature film Into the Woods was not universally and critically lauded is due to the disruption of this brilliant binary structure which necessitates two distinct acts in style and structure separated by an intermission as you will see today.)

The chaos and destruction that results in the second act after characters focus entirely on their selfish wishes can only be restored to order and peace when they understand the content of one of the most profound lyrics ever written by Stephen Sondheim:

“No one is alone, truly. No one is alone.”This is in no way a mawkish line of comfort or reassurance, but a warning that it is only by taking responsibility for the power of individual actions and working together as a community that the characters of the story can find peace and happiness. Sure enough, as soon as the characters realize they are not alone, they are able to defeat the giant and restore order. And similarly, as soon as human beings realize they are not the center of the universe, they too are able to release their unconscious demons and lead more meaningful lives.

As I began the exciting yet daunting task of creating this new production of Into the Woods to close Skylight’s season of fantasy and fairy tales, my first goal was to have as much fun telling the story as possible. To that end, we preserved the fantastical, medieval Black Forest of the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales while also keeping in mind the Jungian undertones that inspired Lapine and Sondheim for their ‘woods’. Our narrator might even resemble a certain, historical interpreter of dreams and ‘woods’. I also embraced Lapine’s American fairy tale invention by fashioning the baker and the baker’s wife as progressive, gluten-free bakers from downtown Milwaukee who will collide with classic characters dressed in iconic costumes of the traditional fairy tales. At the same time, I remembered Sondheim’s statement, “a folk-tale without a moral is merely a whimsy.” And with that in mind, “no one is alone” or the obligation to community is the overriding moral focus of our production.

It is an honor to collaborate with such a stellar creative team and cast in order to breathe life into one of the greatest musicals of the twentieth century. And while Sondheim reminds us “careful the wish you make” it is certainly my wish that Into the Woods will not only bring you some of the joy it inspired in us, but also remind you of the power you have to bring happiness to your community where your ‘wishes are children’.

"Director Edwin Cahill’s approach to this challenge was to strip the classic opera to its bones, while maintaining the integrity which made it one of the most produced and beloved operas of all time.

According to a lengthy director’s note in the program, Cahill re-birthed the opera with the intention of “wanting to explore the theme of mastery and cultural hegemony that inspired the original story and the opera in a way that would be dynamic and exciting for a contemporary audience.”

Cahill related the original story of “Carmen” to that of Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club,” in that its “central theme is control and mastery as well as a patriarchy verses the underground.”

And so, Cahill presents “Carmen” as the head of a fight club. Typically, these kind of stagings can be extraneous and burdensome to the original work. In some cases, I’ve found myself wishing they would just let the piece stand on its own.

However, in the case of Cahill’s “Carmen,” the setting is not a burden to the score or the story. It’s not overly hashed out where characters and lines are adjusted frequently to become symbols of or references to characters from “Fight Club.”

In this case, it is simply a catalyst that opens the door for the original story. Cahill and company have found the right balance between the heart of “Carmen” and the setting they are using to tell the story.

Cahill has perhaps invented a new style of opera as well: punk opera comique." -www.dosavannah.com

The Protagonist (East Coast Premiere)

Music by Kurt WeillLibretto by Georg KaiserEnglish translation by Lionel Salter

PRESS"The protagonist (dramatic tenor Samuel Levine) and the sister (lyric soprano Maeve Hoglund) had a sweet, but intense duet (“Deine Nachsicht erschlägt mich,” in the original), which, ominously, more than hinted at the tragedy ahead, as well as at the incestuous attraction between the siblings. This led into his solo about how he “immerses” himself in his roles (“”Jetzt schiesst schon neues Feuer in mich”)—his actors, holding up signs, emphasized the words “dread” and “fear” in his aria—including that of the murderer. An exquisite romantic, verismo duet (“Seid Ihr uns gefolgt?”) between the sister and her lover (baritone Liam Bonner) followed.

The fey chief of staff (tenor John Easterlin, his Met-sized voice resonating throughout the room) brought his news and the troupe began to rehearse the “jealousy” play, a comedy. The couples were protagonist and the sultry siren (mezzo-soprano Megan Marino), and the ingénu (lyric bass-baritone Jeremy Hirsch) and the drag player (baritone Matthew Morris). Assisting were the other troupe members Katrina Yaukey, who donned a beard and played the violin, accordion, piccolo, and trumpet, and Guto Bittencourt, the resident hunk. Props were outsized phalluses, which later became murder weapons. The effective color scheme was strictly Expressionist film noir black-and-white. Blood-red cloths were added when the murder occured. Bass Jeremy Galyon completed the cast as the innkeeper, another sinister figure.

Guiding the excellent company of expressive, fresh-voiced singers in this little-known thriller were director Edwin Cahill and Music Director Bradley Moore, at the piano, assisted by Jody Schum. Evocative designs were by Charles Mary Kubricht (setting), Bradon McDonald (costumes and choreography), and Guy J. Smith (lighting)." -qonstage.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTESMy love affair with Kurt Weill started when I was first discovering him as a student while preparing for the Lotte Lenya Competition. Subsequently, Weill’s music has proven to be the underlying force which has ushered me into the important milestones of my professional career: my Broadway debut in Harold Prince’s musical about the life of Kurt and Lenya--LoveMusik, the French premiere production of Street Scene at the Opéra National de Toulon, and the Brazilian premiere of Weill’s songs in Campos do Jordao. As my understanding of Kurt Weill has grown deeper, I have come to appreciate his idiomatic versatility, unique voice, and enthusiasm for humanity in a way that is similar to Mozart, Shakespeare, and Proust.

The Protagonist is Kurt Weill’s first opera, composed during the golden twenties of the Weimar Era in Germany. Not only was this period the apex of some of the greatest artistic innovation in the history of modern theatre, it was also the period when Kurt Weill met Lotte Lenya who would become not only his wife, but his lifelong musical inspiration for the rest of his life. In fact, Kurt met Lenya in a row boat as she brought him from the train station to Georg Kaiser’s lake house to work on the score of The Protagonist. During a spon- taneous and immediate act of passion in the middle of the lake, Kurt lost his glasses overboard and spent the entire weekend blinded by love literally and figuratively. The opera not only brought Kurt his first major success, but his soulmate. The exuberance of the young Kurt Weill’s first great love affair can be found throughout the score from the simple love duets to the more heightened and bawdy love making chorus in the first pantomime.

Our approach to The Protagonist is one inspired by the German expressionist movement and the parallel surrealist movement, but also one that embraces the unusual attributes and intimacy of the Pavilion and the Fire Island Pines today. The theme we are exploring in particular is fractured identity. As we enter into a love affair, our identity can quickly be defaced as the drive for complete love or the pleasure principle takes over all of our thoughts and actions often with comic and terrifying results. This is a phenomenon that is a common occurrence for denizens and visitors on Fire Island. Our surprise ‘cabaret interruptus’ chamber version of The Protagonist, for which we gained special permission from the Kurt Weill Foundation, will explore a nightmare where the wish for total love is granted and the players become mirrors for the distortion that occurs when pursuit of complete love of another person goes unchecked and obscures any remaining self-love. It is my hope that like Kurt meeting Lenya in the rowboat, this opera will blind you with love as much as it did me.

PRESS"Seamless...designed by director Edwin Cahill, the staging was meant to resemble a touring troupe from the 18th century. And while that was accomplished, the lighter staging went further in its execution, completely engrossing the patron in the idiosyncrasies of Mozart’s music.

At times, when the actors would disappear from view, yet their voices remained in full echo, it was easy to close your eyes and feel a sense of time transportation." - dosavannah.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTESAccording to Gustave Flaubert, “the three most beautiful things that God created are the sea, Hamlet, and Don Giovanni.” It is therefore all too fitting that the Savannah Voice Festival’s inaugural opera production is Mozart and Da Ponte’s masterpiece performed at one of the most beautiful churches in America. In celebration of this historic occasion, I designed a chamber installation for Christ Church to both highlight Savannah’s prominent historical figures and to tell faithfully the story of Don Giovanni in the intimate manner of a touring troupe of actors from the 18th century.

‘Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth’ - Ecclesiastes (12:1)

The first published version of the Don Juan legend is the play El Burlador de Sevilla y Convidado de Piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest) written around 1630 by Tirso de Molina. De Molina’s family converted to Christianity during the Spanish Counter Reformation to avoid persecution by the Inquisition. De Molina was ordained and went on to publish the bulk of his oeuvre as a ‘New Christian’ priest. One of the most prominent themes in his original play comes from Ecclesiastes (12:1) ‘Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth’. Don Juan is constantly encouraged to remember his creator and to repent for his evil ways, and yet Don Juan always replies that there is ‘plenty of time for that’. By delaying his repentance, Don Juan is able lead a rakish, libertine lifestyle within the confines of his religion, and with the creation of Don Juan, I would argue De Molina is able to establish a thinly veiled rebuke of the Church that forced his family’s conversion.

Nearly a century later, Lorenzo Da Ponte, the author of the libretto for Don Giovanni, was born into a family who also converted to Christianity, and he too became a priest. Da Ponte was forced to leave Venice for living a roguish lifestyle, and I would argue that he like De Molina also embraced the Don Juan character as a way to expose the danger of corrupt leadership in the Church, which could allow for persecution and psychopathic behavior. The character of Don Giovanni created by Mozart and Da Ponte has great directive authority, acts as a force of nature without reflection, and unlike most opera characters, Mozart gives him no soliloquy or self-reflective aria. He is therefore not unlike many powerful politicians, corporate presidents, or even commercial evangelists who posses great charisma, rhetorical skills and technique, but have little connection to the content they sell so effectively.

With this chamber installation of Don Giovanni, you will encounter the ghosts of Savannah’s past, and more specifically, two key ministers of Christ Church’s past, one good and one less than good, to act as vessels for the characters of the opera. The ghost of Christ Church’s beloved Reverend George Whitefield will serve as an altruistic guide for the story while the Reverend John Wesley, who was forced to leave Savannah in the 18th century due to a tarnished reputation, will become Don Giovanni. The founder of Savannah, John Oglethorpe, is the Commendatore. The remaining ghosts and their corresponding opera characters are included with the historical portraits below.

Whether you are discovering Don Giovanni for the first time or seeing it for the thousand and third time, I am quite certain you will find the warnings in this masterpiece remain as poignant today as they did in Mozart and Da Ponte’s time, and the lessons we can learn from ‘one of the three most beautiful things God created’ will give you hope for a bright future.

- Edwin Cahill, Director

Mark Walters (Don Giovanni) and Nathane van Arsdale (Commendatore)

Pre-show installation beginning on the steps of Christ Church

Pablo Lapa (Ghost of a minstrel), James Wright (Ghost of Rev. George Whitefield — the catalyst)

"Charming...hilarious...the professional polish of a major opera company...feedback from the audience was unanimous: the show was entertaining, timely, relevant, and extremely well-done. What surprised many people was how incredibly funny - and naughty! - it was."

"Of course, this is the Pines, so forget what you know about stodgy, un-relatable opera. Sex? Check. Hot bodies and plenty of nudity? Check and check. A final scene that effortlessly transitions into a raucous dance party? You betcha. And so the inaugural year of the festival was born."

- The Huffington Post

EDITOR'S NOTES - by Bruce Alan Brown

My relationship with Christoph Gluck’s opéra-comique L’Arbre Enchanté resembles in some ways an arranged marriage, in which the two parties, practically strangers at first, eventually come to share a deep affection. When I was commissioned to edit the two versions of this opera (the 1759 Viennese original and the 1775 reworking of it for the French court), the more obviously attractive of the composer’s opéras-comiques, the “Turkish”-themed Le Cadi dupé and La Rencontre imprévue, and the spectacle-rich Cythère assiégée, had either already been published or had been claimed by other editors. But as I worked on the scores of one and then the other version of Arbre, the charms of the opera’s subject and of Gluck’s musical treatment of it soon revealed themselves.

As the worldly and well-read Gluck likely knew, the libretto of L’Arbre Enchanté (originally by Jean-Joseph Vadé, revised for Versailles by Pierre- Louis Moline) had a distinguished literary pedigree. This story of young lovers taking advantage of a lecherous older man’s gullibility was already old when Boccaccio used it in the mid-fourteenth-century in his collection The Decameron, and it became a classic of French literature, too, after La Fontaine adapted it as one of his Tales and Stories in Verse. Because this plot has such good bones, so to speak, it has been effective in all its various guises: whether in Tuscan prose or in witty Gallic verses, with additional characters or reduced to its bare essence, and adorned at various times with music of widely varying types. Updating has been a constant in the history of this subject, right up to the present.

The music for this opera contains ample evidence of the composer’s melodic gifts, his deft touch with characterizations both comic and sentimental, and his inventiveness in orchestration. But making Arbre’s music accessible to a modern audience has been a challenge. Gluck’s autograph score, one of only a few to survive for any of his operas, is careless in the extreme, and his last-minute strokes of inspiration, such as his addition of orchestral echoes of the vocal melody in one of Monsieur Thomas’s numbers, only make the notation more illegible still. A notoriously strict taskmaster as a music director, Gluck ensured that the single 1775 performance at Versailles came off smoothly. But the Parisian editors of the original edition of the opera, faced with the chaos of his autograph score, produced materials that were all but unusable. It has taken a good deal of patience and hard work in order to make sense of Gluck’s disorderly notation and thereby to reveal to a modern public the delights of his score.

PRESS"Unique to the performance: taking La Boheme out of 19th century Paris and staging it in present day Brooklyn, New York. The concept, the staging and the costuming—juxtaposing modern street clothes and Italian opera—were delightful." - The South Magazine

DIRECTOR'S NOTESThe word Bohemian was coined by Tacitus in AD 69 as the name ‘Boiohaemum’ for the Boii nomads, a Celtic tribe who inhabited the area that is today the Czech Republic. La bohème entered the French language in the 17th century as a somewhat pejorative term for gypsies; but, in the 19th century Henri Murger gave the word ‘Bohemian’ an artistic nobility and anchored its more romantic meaning in everyday Parisian language with the publishing of his book Scenes of the Bohemian Life. While the modern meaning of ‘Bohemian’ was born in 1849, Murger said in his preface: “The Bohemian has existed in all times and all places.” The Bohemians Murger describes have nothing. Hope is their religion; faith is their code; and charity is their income. Many operas before the 20th century focused on noble characters such as kings and gods, who suffer misfortune and fall from grace as the composer and librettist gave them hearts and minds of weaker, everyday people. Puccini, who was greatly inspired by Murger’s characters, did the opposite. He embraced everyday, weaker characters and gave them the minds and the hearts of gods. As a result, all of his ‘Bohemians’ are more noble than their misfortune.

It is in the spirit of the eternal notion of the ‘Bohemian’, that I invite you to explore our 21st La Bohème set in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Our garret is a condemned loft with no heat or electricity. Our Bohemians must charge their iPads and Macbooks in coffee shops to compose or paint. Our Bohemians must use flashlights instead of candles to see once the suns sets. However, their fears and dreams are the same as those of their 19th century ancestors, and they too are far more noble than their misfortune and are filled with souls worthy of gods and kings.

Opera in the Desert

PRESS

"If you took the Santa Fe Opera’s summer performance schedule and, while you were busy flipping through the season, also replaced the white-tablecloth tailgating, the candelabras and the Veuve Cliquot with boots and cowboy hats, you’d have a general feeling for the Fire Island Opera Festival presented by Marfa Live Arts. For the most part, these boots and cowboy hats would be worn by people who actually wear them in and around town, not just people dressing up to “Go Texan.”

The company itself traveled to Marfa (pop. 1,980) from New York, where several of the singers sing often when they’re not performing in London, Tel Aviv or Berlin. The basic concept of the “festival” involved not only taking opera out of New York and other major cities but also, as is the hope for all opera these days, taking it out of anything resembling the opera house. Marfa’s Crowley Theater played host to the central Saturday night performance, but it was bookended by a bit of lively singing in the Jett’s Grill bar at the Paisano Hotel and by a walk in the desert leading to an aria from Norma. If the goal was to break a few molds, both the opera company and Marfa Live Arts succeeded mightily." - Arts + Culture TX

RADIO INTERVIEWS

West Texas Talk

On West Texas Talk, we focus on Fire Island Opera Festival: Marfa, which runs December 4-6. Our guests are Edwin Cahill, the artistic director of the Fire Island Opera Festival; soprano Francesca Mondanaro; and J.D. DiFabbio of Marfa Live Arts, which is hosting the multi-day, multi-venue festival.

On the program, they speak about the importance of audience interactivity and natural settings. They also discuss how the festival came to Marfa, the history of Fire Island in New York, and their passion for opera.

Operatic sounds echoed across Mimms Ranch in Marfa Sunday afternoon. A circle of people surrounded Amy Shoremount-Obra, a soprano from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Samantha Malk, a South African mezzo-soprano.

That followed two days and nights of performances that included arias from classics like Carmen and The Marriage of Figaro. The crowd also got into the act themselves out at the ranch.

Singer Jeremy Hirsch organized the crowd into sections of an ad hoc a capella orchestra.

We spoke with the Artistic Director of the Fire Island Opera Festival, Edwin Cahill – who explained his vision of opera.

“Less as a grand art form, but as something that’s similar to around the campfire to tell the age-old stories of our humanity,” he said.

“And in the age of iPads and high definition television, I think what opera in particular can offer is a three dimensional experience, the unaided sound of the human voice.”

The opera festival also had a West Texas connection: part-time Marfa resident and artist Charles Mary Kubricht designed some of the opera group’s sets.

Mamelles de Tirésias

Les Mamelles De Tiresias - July 23rd & 26thFrench surrealism and The Tower of Babel meet this summer in Tel Aviv in our version of the comic opera by Poulenc based on the play by Apollinaire. A cabaret interrupts the surrealistic story taking place in an imaginary coastal town in Israel, featuring guests who entertain and arouse a curious contrast to this Babylonian chaos of English, French and Hebrew with the underlying message «make love, not war.»Edwin Cahill, DirectorNizar Elkhater, Conductor / PianistCeline Dutilly, Pianist, French Coach, and Artistic Advisor

PRESS

"Whoever has experienced this production from start to finish, will know what sweet perfection it created, and how much was invested by singers and artistic team to make this beautiful balloon of Poulenc's float properly. May it flow again - and this production be carried out more and more and not disappear with the end of the workshop. You do not need much. Piano, drums - and singers who are playing with their whole soul."

"Edwin Cahill's directing was light, effortless, and fit the club space like a glove."

"...The choice to sing in French, English and Hebrew allowed the opera even greater accessibility with unexpected local echoes..."

PRESSBefore the opera, beginning on the deck of the Pavilion and continuing indoors, was an encore of striking excerpts from the August 22 concert, “Un Amour de Proust,” complete with complementary “petites madeleines,”... -qonstage.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTESMarcel Proust’s work has induced many a passionate love affair with those who read his words ever since the publishing of Remembrance of Things Past one hundred years ago. I was no exception. My love affair began with him while I was at the Sorbonne in Paris taking a ‘literature and music’ course on the ‘intertextualités’ of Wagner and Proust. At the time it sounded like a pretentious idea to a guy from Maine who had little exposure to Wagner and no knowledge of Proust, aside from a few Woody Allen references. As the French students had read Proust since they were in high school, our syllabus only required us to read Proust’s letters. But one day as I was crossing the Rue St. Croix de la Bretonnerie, I stopped in the oldest gay bookstore in the Marais, called ‘Les Mots à la Bouche’. I stumbled upon a paperback copy of Du côté de chez Swann (Swann’s Way) displayed among the more pictorial books of the male form, a juxtaposition that would not be found many places outside of France. Intrigued, I bought a copy, and sat down around four o’clock in the afternoon at my favorite local café/boîte de nuît (night club) called L’Amnésia (little did I see the forthcoming irony). As I began to read, Paris disappeared around me and an uncharted dream world of self realization appeared in its place. When I finally looked up at ten o’clock in the evening, the café where I was reading had transitioned into a night club without my awareness. One of the initial things I remember to be the most striking about Proust is the importance and loving detail he gives to all of his characters regardless of their social status, quirks, or even lack of altruism. Many of his most brilliant lines come from the mouths of scullery maids not princesses just as they do in Shakespeare or Mozart works. As a result, every reader can find a reflection of their identity and can begin to see the beauty in their own quirks.

In my case, I found a reflection of my heart’s secret longings, and with this discovery, the courage to follow my dreams and to be truer to myself. In addition to music, many of Proust’s greatest discoveries came from savoring the delicate flavors and smells of the cuisine of his childhood. The taste of a madeleine dipped into tea is in fact the sensation that inspires Proust to begin his four thousand page quest in search of times past. So we too will begin our musical journey with the flavor of fresh madeleines dipped into tea. We will then continue to celebrate Proust’s quest for the amorous and artistic ideal with music of his onetime lover and lifelong friend, Reynaldo Hahn, as well as other composers who seduced his senses in the salons of Paris and inspired him to write a work that has allowed a century of readers to be truer to themselves and to follow their dreams.

Fire Island Opera Festival 2014

Join us for the gala opening night of Fire Island Opera Festival’s second season as we bring you to the 'Belle Epoque’ or 'Golden Age’ of Paris in 1900. We will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marcel Proust’s masterpiece, Remembrance of Things Past, by installing our own fin de siècle Parisian musical salon at one of the most beautiful bayside mansions in the Pines. The program includes music which inspired Proust's writing and vocal mélodies by Proust's lover and longtime friend, Reynaldo Hahn. Songs will be performed against the backdrop of the setting sun and classical tableaux vivants featuring the beautiful dancers of the Fire Island Opera Festival. The evening includes an open pink champagne bar and will culminate with a tasting of chocolate soufflés, macarons, and madeleines created from vintage Proust family recipes by chocolatier, Lauren Gockley.

The Weimar era comes to dangerous leather-clad life at the Pines this summer as we take you to the exciting and mysterious, cabaret world of Berlin in 1925 where you will be treated to an edgy new adaption of Kurt Weill’s most beloved songs followed by a surprise performance of Kurt Weill and Georg Kaiser’s expressionist operatic thriller, The Protagonist. See this brilliant opera in the Pines Pavilion transformed into a wild, dream world by Marfa based installation artist, Charles Mary Kubricht, and project runway finalist and former Mark Morris dancer, choreographer/costume designer, Bradon McDonald, in a new adaptation by director Edwin Cahill accompanied in a concert piano version by music director, Bradley Moore. The evening will culminate in a Kurt Weill inspired Haus music dance party!

Matinée double bill of both Un Amour de Proust and The ProtagonistSunday, August 24, 2014 at 3:00 PM followed by an opera pool partyThe Pavilion lower deck, The Pavilion Night Club, The Pavilion Pool Deck

MISSIONThe Fire Island Opera Festival commissions new one-act American operas and pairs them with revivals of forgotten works. Top artists from the world of opera, theater, classical music, dance, fashion and visual art unite at a Pines beach mansion and the newly rebuilt Pavilion on Fire Island Pines, converted into a beach 'opera house' by Marfa-based installation artist Charles Mary Kubricht. The result is an intimate exchange between art and nature that will transport the audience to a singular theatrical and musical experience.

DIRECTOR'S NOTESWriting a director’s note for a second season of the Fire Island Opera Festival is an honor (and thrill) that has exceeded my wildest dreams. The classical performing arts are experiencing more and more challenges in our age of sound bites and tweets, yet here on Fire Island, the love affair with opera theatre is not only alive and well, but growing. So as plans for this auspicious second season began to take shape, the notion of ‘the love affair’ returned again and again as the force of nature that is not only pulsing through our repertoire, but is synonymous with the history and the people of this remarkable island who have embraced our company so passionately. Here in the Pines, a community famous for its love affairs which are both poetic and profane, our two productions will explore how a love affair can both enhance and fracture our notion of identity. Un Amour de Proust transports us to the Belle Epoque where unbridled passion for an amorous ideal sends us on a sunset dream filled with songs, instrumental works, and poems that inspired Marcel Proust to conceive the masterpiece Remembrance of Things Past, which enhanced the modern world’s understanding of its own identity. The Protagonist brings us through a comical and myste- rious nightmare devoid of light, which fractures our notion of self-love in the everyday world where our identity is rooted.

Fire Island Opera Festival 2013

Edwin Cahill | Artistic DirectorBradley Moore | Music Director

The Fire Island Opera Festival kicks off on Friday, August 23 at 7pm with a VIP launch event, Opera à la carte, of famous opera arias performed by the stars of the Fire Island Opera Festival. This will be followed by a performance of Lee Hoiby's Bon Appétit! starring Jamie Barton as Julia Child. Barton shot to international stardom earlier this year when she took first prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Bon Appétit! is a comical, culinary musical take on one of America's best-loved chefs and television personalities.

The evening will be hosted at an exclusive private home on the bay and patrons will be treated to a champagne reception and decadent chocolate treats by chocolatier extraordinaire, Lauren Gockley.

Bon Appétit! can also be heard on Sunday, August 25 at 12pm, at the High Tea Deck, Fire Island Pines Pavilion.

MISSIONThe Fire Island Opera Festival will commission new one-act American operas and pair them with revivals of forgotten works from the 17th and 18th centuries. Top artists from the world of opera, theater, classical music, fashion and visual art will unite for the first time this summer at the newly rebuilt Pavilion on Fire Island Pines, converted into a beach 'opera house' by Marfa-based installation artist Charles Mary Kubricht using only repurposed wood and materials from trees and structures destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. The result will be an intimate exchange between art and nature that will transport the audience to a singular theatrical and musical experience.

A portion of the proceeds from the inaugural Fire Island Opera Festival will benefit the Sea Shore Defense Fund.

PRESS"What a spectacular debut for this new and worthy musical endeavor!"- qonstage.com

"It was amazingly fun and delightful -- something truly worthwhile to see in the Pines!"- The Huffington Post

DIRECTOR'S NOTES“Fire Island” and “opera” are probably not words you expected to find next to each other on a poster hanging at the Pines Pavilion. Even now, as you are reading this program, and waiting for the performance to begin, you may think that this is a crazy idea - you are right! But then, is it any crazier than using the words “Fire” and “Island” to describe a community of houses built on a sandbar floating in the middle of the ocean? In fact, the contradiction of these words sum up the singularity of this sublime piece of land and the mission of the Fire Island Opera Festival, which is to celebrate this singulariity through the creation of new works and the revival of forgotten gems.

We are not a “grand opera” company, but a festival founded in the spirit of the Florentine Humanists who developed the first operas during the Renaissance as an attempt to return to ancient Greek theater in intimate settings. Like Greek theater, our productions will combine aspects from all of the performance arts and many of the fine arts by including music, dance, poetry and painting. And in the true sense of the word “festival”, we will even include the culinary arts this year with a special performance of Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appétit!: an operatic take on Julia Child baking her famous chocolate cake. This is not only a nod to the “feast”, which is one of the most important house rituals on Fire Island today, but also to the “fire” of the hearth, where meals are cooked and human culture has been passed along in the form of stories since the beginning of time.

Our inaugural season is one of rebirth. L’Arbre Enchanté (The Magic Tree), commissioned by Marie-Antoinette and last heard at Versailles in 1775, will be reborn in its “New World premiere”. A troupe of half deer/half man satyrs will embody the spirit of Fire Island and will conjure a contemporary Pines story using a forgotten score by Gluck. We will also celebrate the re- birth of the Pavilion Nightclub with a post-opera dance party that we hope will be the first of many in years to come. And finally, we celebrate the rebirth of Fire Island following the destruction of Hurricane Sandy with an installation by artist Charles Mary Kubricht whose sets and props are made of wood repurposed from destroyed houses and trees that died during the hurricane.

We are honored to share our first season with you and hope that on some small level we can inspire new life on this beautiful island.

Edwin Cahill, Artistic Director

David Roemer (Photographer) and Leen Al-Bassam (Graphic Designer)

Tenor Michele Angelini at the Gala Opening of the Fire Island Opera Festival

"The abundant innovation to Beethoven's only opera kept Skylight's audience completely entranced. As the performance unfolded this feast for the eyes and ears, Fidelio's tale of courage, freedom and love pierced the emotional heart In Beethoven's opera ..."- Broadway World

"...brought color and movement to an opera that could easily be static on stage, and a liveliness of spirit to a show that could come across as a bit preachy, with its brotherhood-of-man lyrics, while sacrificing nothing musically."- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel